I do have a life, guys, I do, I promise! Nevertheless, my hall-mates have come to suspect that if I was dragged off from the Barrow-Downs for more than 48 hours, severe twitching, psychosis, and other unpleasant symptoms of addiction should occur (I fear they will try to test their hypothesis after break).

Here I have complied my very own ten signs that signify a dangerous addiction, and are likely to ensure a stay at the Betty Ford center. Enjoy, and post your own.

10. You have written enough private messages to various illustrious members of the forum to compile a not-so-short novel.

9. A naughty pastime of yours is the Freudian interprepations of message icons, shared with other members.

8. You say "screw it" to searching for sources for your latest paper, and begin searching for a cool new avatar instead.

7. You turn down a second date with a punnery "expert," because his skills do not quite match those of Rimbaud.

6. "Green is good," you say to yourself during those dim moments before waking and sleeping, and think of the Barrow-Wight.

4. You have a history of broken off betrothals to at least one famous site member (there could be more, but your memory is sometimes, *er*, lacking).

3. You no longer fear burra (sorry, burra)...Well, you respect burra.

2. You feel compelled to blow the money you usually reserve for alcohol on a bunch of more obscure Tolkien works, because you're tired of being put to shame by the likes of Sharkey and oblo. And, because, frankly, Tolkien is almost a family member by now.

And, the number one sign you're addicted to the Barrow-Downs:

1. Before the shower, before checking the weather, before the obligatory screaming across the hall at the neighbours to turn their %$#@ing country music down, the first thing you do in the morning is sign in and check whatever pearls of wisdom and humour were posted over the night.

__________________
~The beginning is the word and the end is silence. And in between are all the stories. This is one of mine~

[img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] This has taught me a great deal about you, Lush!
To the #1 part: Well duh, I don't even recall to have woken before I find myself in front of the screen... [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]
And couple more sure signs of "hopeless" case:
1. You have to eat in the living room 'cause your kitchen table is full; every Tolkien (or -related) book you own or have borrowed from the library with maps and such have invaded all the space.

2. You have borrowed Tolkien books from your university's library. Well, people can always assume you're studying English literature...

3. You forgot to borrow the books you actually were supposed to study for an exam. And while in library you had to check the BD site in case someone had PM'd you.

4. Your dog whines at the door for it hasn't been out for say 8-10 hours, it's about 2AM monday morning and still you just can't stop sending really-not-so-funny messages to Middle-Earth Mayhem or the Quiz.

5. Your computer collapses: you start to cry. And that's not because you might loose all the unsaved information you have on your computer.

Ok, it's better to stop right here... I have a feeling that people are really starting to worry about me. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

__________________
Despair is only for those
who see the end beyond all doubt.

Location: Elvish singing is not a thing to miss, in June under the stars

Posts: 4,396

1. You tell people that you're going to check your messages. They assume voice-mail. You let them.

2. All of your really trusted friends have taken their glassy-eyed turn at listening to your latest RPG.

3. Your husband is completely sick and tired of hearing about the RPG.

4. Ditto what Child said about the credit card. Your husband says, "But it's all the SAME STORY inside those books!" You smile and say, "But the artwork is different." You need another bookshelf to hold it all.

5. You lose hours and HOURS of sleep over an RPG debate concerning elvish pregnancy and wedlock.

6. Your colleagues visit you at lunchbreak, see the green-and-black screen, and ask, "How's Bilbo?"

7. You really hate typing in extended quotes from a book or document, but you'll grudgingly do it because it's information somebody needs for the RPG.

8. The only thing you use your scanner for is LOTR; and you complainingly pay full-price for some ourrageous oversized book because it has a map or diagram that you need for an RPG.

9. Your family worries that you might sneak off to Hollywood and get your ears surgically altered into points. (Hmmmm... how much? ...nah. But... Hmmmm....)

10. Your BK-Gandalf glass goblet regularly serves to remind you of the last online conversation you had with someone of that name.

11. Your most-used baking recipes come from The Downs.

12. Once a week, you wear non-hobbittish, non-elvish clothes to work-- just to prove you still can.

13. And finally: Your husband seriously fantasizes about tossing your computer out the window into a snowbank.

__________________
...down to the water to see the elves dance and sing upon the midsummer's eve.

4. You have a history of broken off betrothals to at least one famous site member (there could be more, but your memory is sometimes, *er*, lacking).

3. You no longer fear burra (sorry, burra)...Well, you respect burra.

And, the number one sign you're addicted to the Barrow-Downs:

1. Before the shower, before checking the weather, before the obligatory screaming across the hall at the neighbours to turn their -------country music down, the first thing you do in the morning is sign in and check whatever pearls of wisdom and humour were posted over the night.

:Jumps Up and Down:
[img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Good ones! I think Helen (mark12_30) is a bit more obsessed than I am, who's up for sponsoring her trip to the Betty Ford center?

Child, thanks for giving me some perspective.

Maril, I think a public flogging by burra is one of the rites of passage on this site. Well, for some people, at least.

Tar, since I have LAN, I am pretty much always signed in here. Though even without LAN, I can readily admit to spending a ridiculous amount of time browsing though the threads, especially the old ones in the Books. Go me!

Anyone else?

__________________
~The beginning is the word and the end is silence. And in between are all the stories. This is one of mine~

Trust me Lush, you don't even want to know! [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

But I can add a few more.

1. That you risk your job (but that's not important) by sneaking onto a computer at work, which you're actually not allowed to use, so you can inform the others in the RPG you're in, that your own puter is broken so you won't be able to post for a while.

2. That you eat by the puter so often, you've had to get one of those plastic covers for your keyboard. [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img]

3. That no matter what time of day (or night) your friends pass by your window, there's an 85% chance they'll find you by the puter, completely hypnotized by the green letters.

4. (more Tolkien in general) That you once used all the paint you could get in the red and yellow scale, to show other people your fascination with huge, flaming eyes....(sadly, I lost that one)

[ March 09, 2003: Message edited by: Maikadilwen ]

__________________
-"Death borders upon our birth, and our cradle stands in the grave. Our birth is nothing but our death begun."

What a wonderful thread, Lush! I’m laughing so hard while recognizing myself all over the place! Oh well, I keep saying that there are worse addictions than one that makes me think, read and write creatively, right?! Here are a few additions of my own:

1. You panic when the site and/or forum is down for a few minutes and go into the chat room to find out why and how long.

2. You stay up really late or get up really early to compensate for the fact that your time zone is out of whack with prime time on the Downs.

3. You keep the rest of the family awake, not just with the sound of typing, but with a live Tolkien reading on voice chat.

4. You have mixed feelings when your kids come home to visit – you love them, but they want time on your computer!

5. You place other working utensils (ironing board, sewing machine) in the room with your computer and say you’re going to be working.

6. You leave the computer on all day, just so you can “peek” in to see if anything new has been posted.

7. You plunder Alk’s member pics page and the chat wight page for pictures of the people you talk to most, print them and attach them to the wall behind your monitor, so you can see their faces while chatting.

8. You spend hours paging through the dictionary to find funny equivalents for Middle-Earth names and places for a parody RPG.

9. You buy dozens of chocolate children’s eggs to get the LotR figurines that are hidden in some of them, even though you don’t like that brand of chocolate.

10. You buy the complete set of HoME books because of the many discussions about them on the forum, but don’t have time to read them because there’s so much forum reading to do!

__________________
'Mercy!' cried Gandalf. 'If the giving of information is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you. What more do you want to know?' 'The whole history of Middle-earth...'

Yes! I too always go on the Barrow Downs before I start my homework!
and also before I go to school
and before I go to the gym
and before I go to dinner
and before I go to sleep
and before I have my lunch
and I go on it at school
I go on it all the time, but gosh I love it here you guys! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Here is another reason:
You study your books just so you can be the first to answer newbee questions in the book forum.
You start having people call you by your Barrow-Downs nickname.

1. You have a 2000 word essay to write for the next day and you're so hypnotised by the Downs that you've only typed 10 words (sadly, this is the case for me at the moment)

2. You can't help but mention people on here when having an entirely unrelated conversation with your friends.

3. You occasionally burst into fits of giggles at the most inappropriate moment because you remember something that happened on the forum/chat

__________________
'It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: someone has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them' ~Frodo
"Life is hard. After all, it kills you." - Katharine Hepburn

Wow, on yours, Brinniel, I'm 60 or 70% addicted. I would be 100% or 90%, I'm not sure, except for

Quote:

4. You stay up until the wee hours of the morning on a school night to write an RPG post.

5. You get up at 5:00 AM so you can edit or finish that RPG post.

8. You force your parents to listen while you read your RPGs aloud.

Welll...almost. I go to bed late and get up early to read other peoples RPGs or to post something on a different part of the site, or on a different Tolkien site....and I read my parents my posts. Not RPGs. Same difference. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] There's a really funny "100 signs you are addicted to Lord of the Rings" on some other site, but that site is in "My Favorites" on my computer, and considering there were 35 sites there the last time I counted, [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img] I don't think I'll be able to find it. If I do, I'll post the link.

Location: Elvish singing is not a thing to miss, in June under the stars

Posts: 4,396

Quote:

10. You buy the complete set of HoME books because of the many discussions about them on the forum, but don’t have time to read them because there’s so much forum reading to do!

ROFL-- Guilty as charged, although I'm lacking two of the books. And I bought them for RPGs-- C7A is a Marciless Taskmaster. (Gondolin, Ladros, Dorthonion, Numenor, and the Early Third Age Anduin-- all in ONE GAME???)

__________________
...down to the water to see the elves dance and sing upon the midsummer's eve.

#you lie in bed at night planning scenarios/future posts for RPGs or trying to get the tricky quiz question#

#the day before your mock exams start you sit in front of your computer with a growing realisation that, yes, you really ARE addicted to the BD!#

#you know that the day before your actual exam you will still be checking whats going on, even though you know you need the grades to get to uni. why can't they do lotr studies, thats what i want to know?#

[ March 09, 2003: Message edited by: Lyra Greenleaf ]

__________________
“Sylphs of the forest,” I whispered. “Spirits of oak, beech and ash. Dryads of Rowan and hazel, hear us. You who have guided and guarded our every footstep, you who have sheltered our growth, we honour you." the Forbidden Link

#you lie in bed at night planning scenarios/future posts for RPGs or trying to get the tricky quiz question#

#the day before your mock exams start you sit in front of your computer with a growing realisation that, yes, you really ARE addicted to the BD!#

#you know that the day before your actual exam you will still be checking whats going on, even though you know you need the grades to get to uni. why can't they do lotr studies, thats what i want to know?#

[ March 09, 2003: Message edited by: Lyra Greenleaf ]

MY GOSH! YOURE LIKE ME! ...and people call me an LOTR freak.

__________________

The Party Doesn't Start Until You're Dead.

Please visit TeaGEW's! Tea party jewellery by yours truly! A real shop, where you can spend real money!

You know there's something wrong when you read a guitarist's name "Tony Iommi" as "Tony Lommi" (although you knew the name before!), considering it an interesting discovery. Do I need to add anything else?

__________________"But it is not your own Shire," said Gildor. "Others dwelt here before hobbits were; and others will dwell here again when hobbits are no more. The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot for ever fence it out."

And you've finally caught yourself automatically thinking "Lommy" when you see a group of penguins in a photo. Yay!

Oh! I thought that's normal...

__________________"But it is not your own Shire," said Gildor. "Others dwelt here before hobbits were; and others will dwell here again when hobbits are no more. The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot for ever fence it out."

I have no idea how addicted I am, I just know that I am. Here's one more:

You've just spent at least fifteen minutes discussing with your friend over instant messaging how like you all this is, copying and pasting each point which is relevant to you. At first they fully agree but when you go back and read the conversation you realise they got bored and you've actually been talking to yourself for the past ten minutes.

I am well and truely obessed then. Especially with RPG. I keep telling all my friends about my favorite battle scene that I have written, spend hours typing up posts and revising them, and I always check BD before homework! I am obsessed...